Praying this September with St. Jerome

Tiffany Walsh explains how she chose St. Jerome as an intercessor for her children this year.

Each year when my children go back to school, I start thinking about how I can pray for them. My mother’s heart is always consumed with thoughts of their well-being, both physical and emotional. I like to pray for their intentions, and for them to discern God’s Will for their lives. Of course, I tend to couple this will lots of worry about them and their happiness, but that’s another story altogether!

In my daily prayer routines, I like to pray Rosaries for them, or I pray novenas and offer up challenges in my day for them. Each year, I like to have a special go-to heavenly intercessor that I call upon when I’m praying for my children in each of these different ways. I often select saints who have feast days at this time of year. In the past, I have selected St. Teresa of Calcutta (September 5), St. Vincent de Paul (September 27), or St. Thérèse of Lisieux (October 1). This year, I chose St. Jerome.

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St. Jerome originally started off his adult life eschewing his Christian upbringing, much in the way we have heard about with another great saint of the Church, St. Augustine. And indeed, it was St. Augustine’s mom who helped to pray him back into his faith, yes? Our efforts are never in vain!

St. Jerome enjoyed academics and studied language and philosophy. Eventually, though, he felt pulled back to his faith, and used his knowledge for the good of the Church. St. Jerome is known for his work as a translator, both of the Bible as well as other sacred writings, including inscriptions in the Christian catacombs of Rome. He also translated books for his own use, wanting to build a personal library. St. Jerome felt called to a monastic life, but acceded to the wishes of the pope that he be ordained a priest. He died in 420, and is the patron saint of Biblical scholars, translators, archaeologists, librarians and students. His feast day is September 30.

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Do you have a favorite intercessor for your children? #catholicmom

I know of St. Jerome because I am a librarian, and I often ask for his intercession with regards to intentions I’m praying for at work. When I was scouring the Church calendar for September saints I saw his name and it spoke to me. In my research I discovered that he is also a patron for students! Another patron for students (although not a September feast day) is the wonderful St. Thomas Aquinas.

Thus, this year, as I pray for my children, I am asking for the intercession of St. Jerome. I ask him to pray that they are always safe and secure, happy and fulfilled, in all of the important ways: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I pray that they always remain close to Christ and His Church.

Do you have a favorite intercessor for your children, or a devotion to St. Jerome? I would love to hear about it in the comments!